NJPW ‘G1 Climax 29’ Night 14 Preview & Predictions

NJPW ‘G1 Climax 29’ Night 14 Preview & Predictions

Every day leading up to the G1 Climax I’ll be making predictions and today we’re onto the B Block’s seventh night of the tournament, set to take place on August 4th in Osaka. Like all block nights of the G1, there will be five tournament matches. Let’s get started!

Tomohiro Ishii (2-4) vs Toru Yano (2-4)
Last year’s G1 Climax was the first time these long time stablemates faced off in a singles match. The match was arguably Yano’s best which isn’t a surprise when you’re up against Ishii. I’m sure most believe I have Ishii’s record too low already and when you factor his next match is a main event, there’s no way he can come into that show with a 2-5 record at this stage of the tournament. Ishii beats Yano for a second year in a row.Prediction: Tomohiro Ishii

Juice Robinson (3-3) vs Taichi (2-4)
These two match up perfectly together. Taichi lives to get under his opponent’s skin and Juice has one of the hottest heads in New Japan. Juice will be visibly angered having to wrestle Taichi’s style match which plays perfectly into Taichi’s wheelhouse and will help him secure the win.Prediction: Taichi

Hirooki Goto (3-3) vs Jeff Cobb (3-3)
One of the more evenly matched contests on this night of the tournament. Both guys are in a gray area in terms of booking. Neither are champions but both are beasts you want to keep strong. They’ve traded singles wins with Goto winning their match for the NEVER title and Cobb winning their ROH TV title encounter so through those matches they’ve been able to build some chemistry. The match should be a fun back and forth which I can see either guy winning, especially since they both have big matches on the following night. This is a complete toss up as far as I’m concerned.Prediction: Hirooki Goto

Jon Moxley (5-1) vs Jay White (4-2)
This is a big mood match if I’ve ever seen one. White will not want to get upstaged by the new hotness, who he very well may never be able to get his revenge on. I expect these two to get wild. Since New Japan may not know when they’ll be able to use Moxley again, they will probably play this safe by having White come out on top. Moxley should take minimal losses but this one works out in New Japan’s favor because they’d have done a great job at protecting Moxley to this point in the tournament.Prediction: Jay White

Tetsuya Naito (3-3) vs Shingo Takagi (3-3)
Probably the match that was circled the most when the blocks were announced. There’s always a curiosity on which stablemates will be forced to face off in the G1 and there’s no bigger clash than this one here. Before Shingo, there was no doubt who the leader of LIJ should be but that’s been slightly tilted ever since Shingo joined the group. It’ll be interesting to see how these two play it in the ring. Do they play coy or do they wear the emotion on their sleeves? A Shingo win would send shockwaves through LIJ and New Japan as a whole. I believe they’ll end up keeping the focus on Naito and hold off on Shingo’s big run for the time being but this is one of those very special matches that will force everyone to pay close attention.Prediction: Tetsuya Naito